Five things to watch in college football this week

Florida State didn’t make Jameis Winston available to the media this week. When asked why, coach Jimbo Fisher said the decision was made to give Winston more time to focus on academics. That’s laughable, but it’s understandable that FSU doesn’t want Winston in front of cameras right now. Then again, no cameras were present when he stood up on a lunch table and yelled a sexually explicit obscenity last week.

2Texas dismisses another player

Ever since taking over the Longhorns’ head coaching job in January, Charlie Strong has been cleaning house. He continued on Tuesday, announcing the dismissal of offensive tackle Kennedy Estelle, who is now the ninth player Strong has kicked off the team in the last seven months. That kind of attrition recalls Mike Leach’s first season at WSU, though even that rocky year didn’t include this many actual dismissals. Strong isn’t messing around.

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Yes, Matt Barkley is two full years removed from his playing days at USC. But The Oregonian reports that the Pac-12 added another 53 yards to Barkley’s career conference passing record of, now, 12,327 yards. This is relevant because Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion is well within reach of the top mark, needing just fewer than 1,000 more yards. But he should probably go ahead and break it by a few extra just in case.

4Notre Dame’s hearings soon

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly told reporters in South Bend that hearings on the academic fraud case involving five suspended players, including former Mariner High star KeiVarae Russell, could be held as early as the end of next week. The Irish are off to an unbeaten start, and you have to think they’d benefit from removing the cloud of that investigation. Unless the verdict is “they cheated.” Then, not quite as beneficial.

5No stomping allowed

How egregious does your behavior have to be on the football field for the Southeastern Conference to suspend you? Well, Mississippi State offensive lineman Dillon Day found out, receiving a one-game suspension from the SEC after allegedly stepping — or stomping — on a pair of LSU defenders during last week’s game. Day wrote in a statement that he wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. The video is inconclusive. Regardless, LSU got stomped.

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Washington and Washington State are both dealing with a quick turnaround before Friday’s Apple Cup. While Husky head coach Chris Petersen admitted losing a day of preparation is difficult, he said UW would be back on a normal schedule by Tuesday.